Fordham University - Maroon Yearbook (New York, NY)

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ST. JOHN’S CHURCH

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A History of Fordham University T E come. We go. Our steps sound upon the walks. Our voices fill the halls. Our ' eyes behold in wonderment the licauties of the place. Our intellects strive to appre- ciate. But we matriculate, cultivate and graduate. Our sheepskin bears the name of St. John's College, and of Fordham University. There is the imprint of the seal. Yes a different seal, if we care to take note, from that which adorns the College magazine, and stands out so prominently on our class rings. And more—we go out into the world of business and talk with people. A graduate of Fordham University! Fine! The chair moves closer. How fortunate (?) Old memories to Ik revived! Conversation turns on the old Lady of Mercy Church, where many a Fordham lass blushingly suffered the long-yearned tor osculation; the old Rose Hill Manor House, where Washington is reputed to have made frequent visits, and Fcnimorc Cooper to have laid the scene of the Spy ; the later Manor House with its extensions and cross extensions; old Second Division, the Castle, the Quadrangle, the old wooden Third Division, and the stationery shop; the bakery where wiser hoarders instinctively halted betimes; the skating pond, where hearts heat light and muscles tired: the Cadet Corps, where minds were trained and wills accustomed. Oh. host of memories, fond joys to our guest in his recollections: for us. no recollection, no foundation—a lost world of delights. But how emliarrassing we must feel at times? What does the seal signify? Whence comes the name Fordham. and whence St. John's College? Wr hope no Fordham man will say. I don't know. The Manor of Fordham was incorporated in the township of Westchester in 1788. and later in the township oi West Farms when it was formed in 1846. By 1895 all the Bronx had been annexed to New York City. The first mention we hear if Fordham i in 1673 in letters patent issued by Governor Lovelace, granting the Manor of Fordham to John Archer. By his purchases from Flias Doughty, of Long Island, and from the Indians. John Archer eventually l ccamc seized in fee of 1.253 acres. On May 3. 1669. Governor Francis Lovelace gave Archer leave to settle sixteen families on the mainland near the wading place” (Spuytcn Duyvil Creek). Upon November 13. 1671, Lovelace erected the whole into an unfranchised township to be held by Archer under the feudal lordship of (lie Duke of York. A Manor grant was issued to Archer (1673). The name given the Manor was Fordham. derived from the parish of the same name in Norfolk. England. Bolton tells us. while Scliarf attributes the name Fordham—foord. a ford or wading place: and ham. a mansion—to the founding of the village (houses) at the ford (Spuyten Duyvil). We are inclined to favor Scharf's interpretation, especially since Archer’s new possessions arc described in the deed as “situate upon the main continent lying to the eastward of the Harlem River, near unto ye passage commonly called Spiting Devil, upon which ye New Dorp or village is erected, known by the name of Fordham. The Manor included what is now known as Kingsbridge. Fordham. High Bridge, Belmont and William’s Bridge Archer gave three mortgages to Cornelius Steenwyck. and as security handed over the deeds of the Manor. Archer was unable to pay back the debt, and thus the Manor fell to the mortgagee by foreclosure. By the will of Steenwyck. 1694. the whole Manor was left to the elders of the Nether Reformed Dutch Congregation, and their heirs and successors and 25